


Keys

by Floore



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Fluff, Keying a car, M/M, Modern AU, Neighbors, Parole!Levi, Teacher!Erwin, teacher!Mike
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-09
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-04-13 18:05:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4531821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Floore/pseuds/Floore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>//Discontinued//</p><p>Levi keys his attractive neighbors car and gets caught, he is surprised to find the man not so upset.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Start

And there it was again. The jet black car parked partially in front of his home even though it belonged to his neighbor, Mr. Smith. Levi scowled at the vehicle as he dragged his feet to his mailbox. It was a nice car, not an eyesore in the least, but it wasn’t his and it did not belong there.

If this was an occasional occurrence, it wouldn’t have bothered him so much. However, the dark car could be found there every day after 3:00 PM until being driven away some time in the morning that Levi didn’t care to memorize. The fact that Smiths drive way was constantly empty added to his frustration. After months of glaring at the car, he finally decided to act.

Now, he could have politely asked the man to park closer to his own home, or passive-aggressively placed his trash bins in the spot until the other man got the idea. But no, he settled on the stupidly destructive idea of pulling out his house key at 4:00 AM and striding over to the vehicle menacingly. He didn’t think much as he heard the initial clink of the tip of his key meeting the metal surface. His brows were furrowed in anger as he dragged it over the black surface, leaving a long silver trail across the length of the front door. It felt satisfying at first as he looked down at the mark he made. Satisfying, until a rough hand grabbed his wrist. Then the fear swelled like a pit in his stomach.

“What do you think you are doing?” Boomed a deep, serious voice.

His silver eyes stared at the hand holding him and then they slowly trailed up the arm of the suit wearing man. Then finally to the face of the man when recognization kicked in. It was Mr. Smith. Levi dropped the key with slightly widened eyes. He expected a few things to come out of damaging Smiths property; an upset person, a small warning to be given around the neighborhood, the car finding a new place to be parked… What he didn’t expect was to be caught.

“Well?” Smith demanded, staring down at Levi. There wasn’t much anger in his voice, but the intensity of his gaze was intimidating. 

Levi yanked his hand away from the man with ease and stumbled a step to the side. 

“PARK IN FRONT OF YOUR OWN HOUSE, FUCKER.” He shouted before darting back to his own home. He slammed the door behind him and immediately went to look out his blinds. Smith made no effort to follow him. The man simply picked Levi’s key off of the ground and got into his car, probably to prevent being late to his job.

As Smith drove away, Levi brought his hands up to his face and groaned. He didn’t have the money or legal ability to get away with damaging someones property. Levi would be properly fucked when the man returned in the afternoon.

\---

Levi layed face down on his couch for about two hours until his house-mates were awake. Hange bounced down the stairs with her usual energy and Petra refused to acknowledge the world until she brewed a pot of coffee. His friends were welcoming enough to let him move in with them about a year ago. The situation had been temporary, but when he finally got a job and contributed to the rent, it became a bit more long term.

Hange plopped on the recliner beside the Levi and gave the couch a rough kick. They could tell he wasn’t asleep, so they felt obligated to pry.

“What are you doing up so earlier? You don’t usually crawl out of your lair until 7.” Hange asked, their feet repeatedly thumping against the side of the couch. Levi let out a soft groan, his hand trailing over the back of his head.

“Ididsomethingstupid” He muttered into the cushin.

Hange put their feet down and leaned in closer. “I can’t hear you.” Their voice must have been a few notches too loud, because Petra let out an annoyed hiss from the kitchen. Levi lifted his head with look of defeat.

“I did something stupid.” He repeated, flopping his head sideways on the couch.

“Oohh? So early in the day? ‘S that some sort of new record,” Hange smiled, leaning back in the chair. No one would ever understand how they were so energetic in the mornings. Petra walked quietly into the room, her hands grasping a coffee mug firmly. She squeezed into the recliner with Hange and took another sip. “What’d ya do?!” Hange asked, deciding that Levi was taking too long to speak on his own.

“You know the prick who keeps parking in front of our house?” Levi began, trying to make his actions sound justified.

“The hot guy,” Hange nodded, their smile not fading.

“His name’s Erwin.” Petra clarified, giving Hange a small jut in the rib cage.

“Yes. Fuckboy Smith. I.. Was annoyed at his parking arrangement, so I decided to take matters into my own capable hands, so I sort of keyed his door-”

Hange immediately started to laugh quietly and Petra’s face fell. “Levi, that’s horrible!” She says, not appreciating such acts of destruction. “Do you plan to pay to fix it?”

“Well I didn’t. But he sort of caught me-” Levi started, only to be cut off again by Hanges growing laugh. It erupted into something loud and obnoxious. Levi swatted at their leg in annoyance and Petra let out a sigh. “It’s not really funny!”

“No it’s not! Levi! Damaging property is illegal!” Petra stared at him with disappointment. “Why did you-”

“Because he was in front of our house! Isn’t that trespassing or some shit?” Levi’s tone was defensive. He knew it was dumb, he didn’t want to be lectured too.

“We don’t own the street!” She brought her hand up to her face with another sigh. Hange continued to laugh and contributed nothing to the conversation.

—-

Erwin pulled into the teachers parking at around 6:00 pm. It was a long commute, but it didn’t bother him. He stepped out of his car and was immediately greeted by his pal, Mike.

“Morning Erwin- What happened to your car?” Mike asked, his eyes resting on the silver line.

“Ah, my neighbors kid decided to take some revenge. I was apparently parking too close to ‘his house’.” Erwin replied, running his fingers over the scratch. It was deep and jagged, certainly more than a fresh coat of paint would be called for to fix it. “I’ll see if I can get a hold of his parents after work today.”

Mike let out a grunt and walked towards the doors of the School. Erwin fiddled with the silver key in his pocket as he trailed behind him. He hoped the kids parents would be reasonable.


	2. Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin confronts the situation and Levi is bad at apologizing.

Erwin returned home at 3:00 pm as usual, and when parking his car, he was sure to back up a few feet for good measure. He wasn’t sure why it bothered his neighbor, but he would respect such. He got out of his car slowing, internally rehearsing what he would say to the parents of the kid. He clutched the silver key in his hand and began walking towards the unfamiliar door. Erwin rang the door bell once, and then after a few moments, twice, until finally someone with thick square glasses and messy brown hair answered the door.

“Evening! I’m your neighbor, Erwin. Sorry we haven’t officially met yet, uh. You wouldn’t happen to be the parent of the boy who lives here. I’m afraid I don’t know his name, he’s about this tall with black hair– Why are you laughing?” 

Hange had begun laughing as soon as Erwin started speaking of Hange being the parent of Levi. They had to wipe tears away from under their glasses before turning to sideways in the door way.

“Levi! There’s someone here for you!” Hange shouted into the house, a low groan could be heard as a response. They turned back to Erwin and extended a hand. “I’m Hange, it’s nice to formally meet you. Levi will be here in a moment.”

Erwin shook their hand and nodded. “Alright, but I actually wanted to speak with you. Or whoever Levi’s parents are. See, he key’d my car this morning and-”

Hange began chuckling again.

“Sir, he’s 24.” They snorted out, clasping a hand over their grin. Erwins brows rose slightly, almost in disbelief. 

“Really?” He gawked, thinking back to Levi’s appearance. He wasn’t sure if he was more surprised about how young he looked, or how immature it was for an adult to key a car. Hange gave him a nod as Levi approached the door. They gave the short man an enthusiastic pat on the back before retreating into the house. Levi stepped out and closed the door, folding his arms over his chest.

“Okay, what’s it going to cost.” He muttered, coming to accept that he wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of being caught. He’d rather pay Erwin off the record than have the incident reported.

Erwins icy gaze rested on him in silence, almost as if he were studying him. After a moment of silence, Levi let out a scoff.

“What?” He grunted with irritation, not wanting to be stared at. Erwin gave his head a quick shake.

“Oh, nothing. I was just.. Here’s your key.” Erwin handed the silver key over to Levi. Levi grimaced as he held it; it was warm and sweaty. He stuffed it into his pocket and crossed his arms again.

“So why exactly did you damage my car?” Erwin asked, putting his hands into the pockets of his semi-casual suit. Levi blinked at him, a subtle scowl ever-wearing on his features.

“You were in front of my house. You always are.” Levi answered bluntly, as if it made perfect sense. 

“Alright… You could have just asked me to back it up. Or even place a trash-bin there, I would of gotten the hint.” Erwin said, his hands occasionally making their way out of his pockets to animate his voice.

Levi gritted his teeth. _This mother fucker—_

“Look how much is it going to cost?” Levi barked, disliking his neighbors prying into his motivations.

Erwin waved his hand to dismiss Levi’s offer. “My insurance will cover it, it’s fine.”

The smaller mans brows furrowed tighter and he shook his head. “I’d rather pay for it, I can’t be linked to a reported incident.”

“I wont name you.”

Levi squinted at the man, looking him up and down. “The fuck? I key your car and you aren’t going to do anything about it?”

“As long as it wont happen again, I don’t see the need-”

“Who says it won’t?” Levi growled with annoyance. He could hear Hange let out a groan from the inside of the door, it was obvious they were eavesdropping. 

“I’m trying to be a nice guy here, Levi.” Erwin ran his hand through his blonde hair, not understanding how a man in the wrong could be so unreasonable. 

“Well you can ‘nicely’ fuck off.” Levi scoffed, looking at the ground.

Erwins eyes flashed with a slight amount of hurt and he gave a soft sigh. “Very well. Have a good evening, Levi.” The man stepped off the porch and started walking down the drive way. Levi watched him go for a moment before stepping into his home. Hange was waiting on the inside of the door, as expected.

“You really are sort of dumb.” They sighed, retreating into the living room.

Levi scowled at them and leaned against the wall.

_Fuck._

\---

When Petra returned from work, she was eager to know what sort of charges Erwin might be pressing. Levi relayed the conversation shared with the man vaguely, though Hange was happy to offer what actually happened once Levi was done speaking. Petra stared at Levi with the sort of disbelieving look that ripped him apart. He kept his own eyes planted firmly on the wooden floor.

“Leviii. Whyyyyyy.” Petra drew out, leaning in to stare harder. “He was willing to handle everything, all you had to do was show a little bit of gratitude and-”

“He was a rude motherfucker.” Levi muttered, slouching against the couch like a toddler. Hange rolled their eyes beside him, but surprisingly said nothing.

“Is he still going to leave your name out of the report?” She asked, pressing into the subject. Levi gave a shrug and Hange raised their hand shakily as if it could go either way. Petra rubbed her eyes and let out another sigh. She ran her hands through her hair and lowered her head in thought. Eventually, she looked back over to Levi. “You should go apologize.”

Levi let out a scoff and rolled his eyes.

“I’m serious! He’s a nice guy, if you say you’re sorry, he’ll probably forgive you.” Petra’s voice was almost a plea. 

“What do you want me to do? Leave a basket on his doorstep with a letter? Because I sure don’t think I could stomach speaking with him again.” Levi finally raised his gaze to meet Petra’s expecting to see more frustration. Instead he was offered a look of relief. 

“Yes, do that! An apology would be worth more face to face, but that should be enough.” She smiled, nodding her head enthusiastically.

Levi casted her a scowl, but her determined look did not fade. They seemed to be trapped in a silent competition; the first one to look away would lose. Hange shifted their eyes between the two of them, letting out a small cough after a few moments. Petra was the one willing to break the silence, though after she spoke, Levi preferred the sound of nothing.

“Levi if you go to jail again, I’ll be pissed.”

The words made Levi’s glare turn into a regular squint. With furrowed brows, he abruptly rose to his feet and stepped out of the room.

“Fine I’ll send a shitty apology basket.” He muttered, making his way upstairs.

“Thank you!” Petra called, releasing a breath. 

—

At around 8:30 PM, there was a ring at the door. Erwin stared at door from his chair, unsure who would be at his home at such a late hour. He gently displaced the cat from his lap before walking over. He peered through the peak hole for cautions sake, but there was no one in sight. Erwin unhooked the lock on the door and opened it slowly. He peered outside, and there was still no one. He was about to close the door when he noticed a small basket.

Upon picking it up, he gave it a quick inspection. It was filled with little baked treats and a coffee mug. He brought the basket inside and set it on the counter. A folded paper was stuffed into the mug and he was quick to open it.

“Sorry I told you to fuck off, don’t name me in your report. -Levi.”

Erwin let out an audible chuckle at how blunt the wording was. He hadn’t been planning to name his neighbor anyway, but this was a nice surprise. He took a seat on his chair as he sorted through the treats; Banana bread and Oatmeal cookies. Definitely worth the price of a keyed car.

—-

Petra and Hange were up against a window, peering sneakily between the blinds to see Erwins initial reaction as he picked up the basket. Levi stood behind them with apparent disinterest, but he was straining to watch as well. 

“He’s picking up the basket…” It was Hange who decided to narrate Erwins actions. 

“He’s looking at the treats- Oh no he looks disgusted!” Hanges frantic tone causes Levi to suddenly lean over the pair of them, practically throwing himself into the blinds to get a good look. Levi searched Erwins porch frantically, but there was no one in sight. He glanced over to Hange with confusion and they were smirking. “I’m kidding! He took it inside.”

“I think he liked it.” Petra added with a less mischievous smile.

Levi removes himself from the couch and swats at their ponytail while grumbling with irritation. Though, he was oddly relieved that the basket didn’t find its way immediately into the trash. Hopefully Erwin was a forgiving as Petra believed.


	3. Notes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erwin wants to repay Levi for the wonderful basket of treats.

The next day, when Petra opens the door to head out to work, an envelope wedged between the door frame slips to the ground. She picks it up and reads the name it is addressed to. ‘To Levi”. She smiles to herself and steps back into the house, placing the letter on top of Levi’s laptop for him to read later. 

An hour later, when Levi finally makes his way downstairs, he notices the letter rather quickly. There was never clutter around his work space, so it stuck out easily. He sprawls out on the couch and pulls out the letter sealed within. His brows crease as he starts reading.

**_“Apology accepted! The cookies are delicious and I can’t wait to try the bread. If you baked this yourself, I send my compliments. If not, please redirect such compliments to Ms Petra or Hange.”_ **

_He’s such a dork,_ thought Levi as he read. He could just imagine the laugh one might have while writing a line like that.

**_“-I wouldn’t have named you in my report to begin with, but these treats have certainly sealed such fate.”_ **

Levi felt the corner of his mouth twitch up, _such a dork._

**_“The mug is lovely as well, I’ll fill it with my finest coffee. Do you have a preferred type or brand?”_ **

_Does he expect me to reply?_

**_“-Thanks again, I hope we can move on from our scratchy beginnings. ~Erwin S.”_ **

_Was that a pun?_ Levi reread the letter a few more times, analyzing it carefully. Hange walks into the room with her hair in a towel, indicating they’ve taken one of their rare showers. 

“What’s that smile about?” They ask, plopping down loudly in the chair beside the couch. “You get a love letter?” Levi shoots a small glare in their direction.

“I’m not smiling, and no. It’s just a letter from Erwin.” Levi explains, folding the letter and setting it aside as if to give off an impression of indifference. Hange wastes no time snatching the letter and reading it for themselves. 

“Sounds like he’s asking you for a coffee date.” The muse, giving Levi a teasing look. Levi lets off a scoff.

“I keyed their car, Hange. This isn’t some romance novel.” He opens up his laptop and start tapping away at the keyboard, trying to ignore his house mate. 

“Mmm.. Hypothetically, what are you going to tell him?” Hange asks, discretely pushing a sheet of paper and pen towards Levi. “Hmmm?~” They hum, eyeing him carefully.

“I’m not writing back. I apologized and he accepted it, now I can go back to hating him.” He says, not giving them as much as a side glance.

“So there was a point where you stopped hating him?” They pryed. Oh how Levi hated the prying. He shot them one of his warning glares, no longer finding their teasing playful. When their gaze didn’t back off, Levi rose to his feet and carried his laptop into the other room. “Fine fine, walk away. Ignore fate!” They called, wearing a proud smile.

Once Levi is out of the room, they grab the pen for themselves, writing something down. 

**_“He actually prefers tea, and he’s too stubborn to write you back. ~HANGE”_ **

When Levi eventually relocates himself to his room, Hange makes their way out of the house and over to Erwins front door. Levi would thank them later, surely.

\---

Erwin found the letter as soon as he returned home. It was shoved and crumbled between his door frame, and when he read it was from Hange it seemed to make sense. He scratched his chin as he sets a suitcase down just inside the door. There was a fairly nice tea shop just near the school he taught at. He'd make a mental note to stop by it on his way home tomorrow.

He wasn't sure why he was so willing to forgive Levi. It wasn't as if the man had been surprisingly pleasant, in fact, he had been the opposite. He supposed it was something about the way he carried himself. Levi was intriguing, and it certainly was about time he got to know his neighbors.

Erwin folded Hanges note carefully on his table and cut a slice of bread from the loaf in the basket. It was just as delicious and fresh as the cookies. He's certainly have to do more than buy some fancy tea if he wanted to impress the short man.

The next day, he picked out a cute little wooden basket and some fine tea. He had it tied in an elegant red ribbon and he prepared a note to go along with it.

****_"So a tea fella, are you? That's fine! I hope you like what I picked out, there were a lot of flavors to choose from. If you prefer something else, I'll be happy to get that instead._  
_The bread was just as amazing as I imagined and I'd like to bake you something in return. Unfortunately, I am a tragic chief, so maybe instead I could take you all out to dinner?  
It's a good idea for us neighbors to get along. I hope to hear from you soon, ~Erwin S." _

\--

As Levi finished reading the note, he could feel his face growing warm. It wasn't hard to guess that it was Hange who told Erwin about his love for tea, mostly because they looked so fucking guilty. He layed down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, clutching the letter to his chest.

There was really no need for him to feel embarrassed, it wasn't like Erwin was asking for a date. He had invited all of them for a dinner in a neighborly fashion. It just seemed... Weird. 

This isn't how one should act towards someone who destroys their property! Why was Erwin so friendly about the situation? It certainly wasn't Levi's charm.

When Petra and Hange returned home, they read the letter.

"Oh! Levi, you should go! You never leave the house." Petra starts, inspecting the tea. She was guilty of 'borrowing' Levi's favorites, and this would be no exception. 

Levi is still laying on the couch, "It's for all of us to go-"

"Nonsense, me and Erwin are practically already friends and Hange doesn't have the taste for fancy foods," 

Hange nodded along as Petra's words. "It's true, anything over five dollars tastes sour." 

"It'd probably be a lot of fun for you!" Petra pushed, a gentle smile spread on her lips. 

"It'd be awkward and we'd have nothing to talk about. He's like 40." Levi groaned, drawing his arm across his eyes.

"He's 27, Levi." Petra clarified. Levi wasn't sure how she knew so much about Erwin, maybe the two really were friends and he just hadn't noticed.

Levi rolled his head back and drew in a long breath. "I don't want to."

Petra's face fell slightly, but they didn't push anymore. "Well, I can't force you. But you should think about it." She stood up quietly, the tea still in her hands as they left. Levi would never see that bag again.

Hange eventually left the room as well, growing bored of whatever television show they were watching. When the house was finally quiet, Levi sat up. He was still thinking about it; weighing the pro's and cons.

Eventually, he grabbed a small posted note and a blue pen. 

**_"Alright, but it would just be me attending. Is that okay? ~Levi"_ **

It took another hour to build up the courage to walk over to Erwins house and leave it for him to see. He decided to leave it between the windshield wipers of his car. It seemed appropriate.

\---

The next day, there was a reply note waiting for him on the front door.

**_"That'd be perfectly fine. Tomorrow at 7:00 PM? ~Erwin S."_ **

\---

**_"Okay. ~Levi"_ **

\--


	4. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a dinner date-but-not-really.

Levi is more fidgety than usual on that Friday. He paces around the house most of the evening, changing his outfit more than once, and avoiding his room mates. If Petra and Hange notice his odd behavior, they don't say anything. Levi is certainly grateful for it, he didn't want to explain his date-but-not-really with Erwin. When the clock finally ticks to a little before 7:00, Levi heads for the door. 

"I'll be back later." He calls over his shoulder. He would of preferred to slip out without a word, but sometimes that worried Petra.

"Alright, try not to die." Hange shouts, her face buried in some fantasy novel.

Levi gives a quiet scoff and shuts the door behind him. 

He walks the short distance to Erwins house, going all the way to the street to avoid stomping the grass. He hesitates at Erwin's door, unsure if he wants to knock or not. He decides against it and simply sits on the wooden bench on his neighbors porch. Erwin would probably be out soon anyway. He glances over to his house, and see's two indents in the window blinds. He scowls over at the shadowy figures, not approving of Petra and Hanges spying. One of the shadowy indents go away, he assumes that one was Petra, but the other stays, and it's probably Hange. Nosy as always.

A few minutes tick by and the door finally opens. Erwin walks out and steps off of his porch, not even giving a glance to Levi. He's dressed well, as usual. Casual enough to make Levi feel comfortable enough. When he realizes Erwin still hasn't noticed him, Levi calls out.

"Hey." His voice is quiet, and a lot more polite than the last time he and Erwin spoke.

The tall man jumps at the sudden voice and spins around without grace. His eyes soften when he spots Levi on the bench. 

"Oh- Good evening, Levi. How long have you been waiting out here? You could have knocked," Erwin extends his hand as if he expects Levi to shake it. Levi stands, keeping his arms folded as he ignores the gesture. 

"I didn't want to rush you." He admits. Erwin eventually pulls back his hand and stuffs them into his coat pockets. "Where do you want to go?"

Erwin turns and begins walking towards his car.

"Anywhere you'd like, I know a great seafood restaurant, but it's a long drive.

"Lets stay local." Levi says, a bit too quick. He hesitates getting into the car and stares at the door handle. This vehicle caused him so much irritation in the past month, and now he'd be riding in the passenger seat. Fate had a sense of humor. He eventually gets into the car, the leather seats crinkling against his weight. It's a really nice car, and as he admires all of the features it has, he feels an odd pride that he was the one to deface it.

"Alright. What do you like? Italian? American?" Erwin starts the car, wanting to heat it up before they start driving.

"Whatever is fine." 

Erwin's brows furrow slightly. Levi sounds bored, and he wanted the night to be enjoyable.

"Alright, there's a family restaurant not too far." Erwin pulls away from the house and out of the neighborhood. He hoped Levi would be in a better mood once they were eating.

\--

Most of the car ride is spent in silence. Erwin and Levi arrive at the restaurant and are seated almost immediately. Levi orders himself a burger and Erwin orders a steak. Erwin stirs the ice in his water loudly before finally deciding to speak.

"So... How long've you been in the neighborhood? I haven't seen you around much." It's a safe question, he figures. Not one that would pry into Levi's personal life.

Levi stares at him with his usual half lidded gaze. It's both intimidating and endearing. 

"A while. I don't leave the house much." He answers, breaking his gaze away to take a sip of his strawberry lemonade. He hold the glass oddly, but Erwin doesn't comment on it.

"Oh? Why is that?" Erwin asks curiously.

Levi gives a small pause.

"Because when I do, I do stupid shit like keying my neighbors car." Levi gives Erwin an expectant look. After a moment, Levi gives a small smile, indicating that it was a joke. Erwin stifles out an awkward chuckle and Levi sighs. Before silence has a chance to fill the air again, Erwin asks another question.

"What are your interests?" 

Levi immediately snorts at the way the question is phrased. It sounded like a shitty dating site question.

"Seriously?" Levi gives a smile and Erwin blushes subtly. "I like reading I guess."

"Any books in particular?" Erwin asks, trying to get over his former embarrassment. 

"Uh.." Levi spends a lot of time at home on his laptop, and he's not quite willing to admit that the majority of the work he reads is fanfiction. He didn't quite think his answer through. "Just stuff that my friends write. They're talented." He gulps down a large portion of his lemonade and looks to Erwin. "Yourself?"

"I'm a movie person. I spend most of my nights grading Highschool papers so I don't quite have the time to read." 

"You work at the High School?"

"Not the local one. It's a bit of a commute to work, but it's fine. I teach History courses." 

"I hated that class." 

"Hah! You'd probably hate mine more, I teach in excruciating detail."

"Gross."

Erwin gave a hearty laugh, already warming up to Levi's dry humor.

"Are you working anywhere?" Erwin asks innocently.

Levi crosses his arms and shrugs. 

"I do online work. Formatting, codes, all of that nerd crap." As well as the occasional hacking on commission, but Levi wasn't going to admit to that.

"That's interesting, have you ever made a website?"

Levi nods, and the conversations continue from there. It's easier to talk with the man than Levi had imagined. He wasn't nearly as insufferable as his parking habits. They keep up with light conversation until their food arrives. Erwin eats slowly, so Levi manages his own pace. He usually inhales his food, but he doesn't want to wait around. As their meals come to an end, Erwin offers to pay and Levi quickly declines. They pay individually and leave a combined tip. 

\--

They return the the neighborhood and sit in the car, falling into a silence again. Levi opens the door and begins to leave without a word. 

"We should do this again some time, it was nice." Erwin's voice causes Levi to pause for a moment.

"Yeah. I had fun." Levi still sounded bored, but Erwin was sure that it was just the tone he carried naturally. "See ya."

"Have a good night, Levi." 

Levi gave a subtle nod and retreated back into his house and Erwin did the same.

\---

Levi's home was dark, but there was a figure looming in the corner. He could see the reflection of Hange's glasses, and he let out a groan.

"Soooooo" They begin, leaning forward. "How'd it gooooo?"


	5. Following weeks

After a few days, Levi finds another note on the front door. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was glad to hear from Erwin again. 

**_“Do you want to go see a move tonight? ~Erwin S.”_ **

From the outside, he and Erwin probably looked like two odd man-children leaving shy little notes on each other’s doorsteps. Levi didn’t care; in all honestly he sort of enjoyed the note system. It was less stressful than phone calls.

He wrote a short reply and walked it over to Erwins door. He wouldn't be home for a few more hours, but Levi decided to get ready anyway.

\--

Several more not-quite-dates occur in the following weeks. They have dinners and watch a few movies. They even go to a bar once, but that doesn’t seem to be the sort of scene Levi appreciates, so Erwin doesn’t take him there again. 

Petra prys for details for a short while, but as Erwin and Levi’s outings become more frequent, the questions turn into a more generic, ‘did you have fun?’ and nothing more. Even Hanges teasing dies down, not entirely of course. That’d be too much to ask. 

As their relationship grows closer, Levi finds himself at Erwin’s house instead of his own during most days. It’s quieter than his house and the company of Erwins cat is enjoyable, despite the amount of fur they leave behind. Erwin doesn’t make any objections to Levi’s presence, after all, he was the one to give him the key. If anything, he liked having someone to come home to. Even if it is a short grumpy man with eyes glued to a laptop screen.  
Late some evening, after a dinner of Chinese take-out, Erwin talks to Levi from the kitchen.

“My buddy Mike is getting married, would you like to be my plus one?” Erwins question is met with silence. He peeks into the other room to see Levi staring into the screen of his laptop. He seems to be in the middle of a silly online game.

Erwin strides over to the back of the couch and leans over so that he is looming over the raven haired man. Levi notices the shadow immediately and looks up.

“What?” He asks shortly.

“A wedding." Erwin smiles at the way Levi’s eyes widen slightly.

 _“What!?”_ Levi’s voice is raised a little and his face is reddened lightly. Erwin give a half-hearted chuckle, imagining what the man was thinking.

“My friend Mike is getting married, would you like to attend with me?” He asks again.

Levi’s face drops into it’s neutral state. 

“Oh. Yeah, sure.” He turns his attention back to the computer screen and closes out his game. “Like as a date?”

Erwin feels his face grown warm. “Yeah, as a date” Levi gives a soft smile, one that he doesn’t think Erwin would see. He does. 

“When is it?” 

“Next weekend, it’s just out of state, so we might have to rent a room.”

Levi closes the lid of his laptop and stiffens slightly. Erwin wonders if he’d be uncomfortable sleeping in the same room as him. 

“Or we could drive back in the night, if you’d prefer.” He offers. It’d be tiring, but he’d be willing to do that.

“I can’t go.” Levi says plainly, setting his computer on the table.

“Why is that?” Erwin asks, faking a pout. “Do you have plans?” He gives Levi a playful poke in the shoulder.

“No, I just can’t. Sorry.” His apology is a half-assed mumble. Erwin folds his arms suspiciously, not quite satisfied with the answer.

"Any reason? My friends are decent enough if you're worried about that, or-"

"No, nothing like that, god." Levi ran his hand through his hair, pausing in thought. He let out a sigh and looked back over to Erwin. "Look, Erwin. I haven't exactly been the 'model citizen' that I am today-" Levi hesitates as if he regrets what he's saying already. "I can't go." 

Erwin takes a seat beside Levi, figuring it would be less intimidating to talk to someone at their level- Or, closer to it.

"What are you saying, exactly?" Erwin asks carefully. He doesn't want to assume things of Levi, though the picture he's painting seems clear enough.

"..." Levi looks over him carefully before drawing his eyes over to his closed laptop. "I can't legally leave the state. And as much as I'd love to play hookie and go with you anyway, Petra would kill me."

He promptly avoiding that annoying word; parole. That made him sound like some sort of criminal, and that was an unfair evaluation. He'd been in prison on two occasions, both just a few months at a time. He should still be in there now, but he was able to get an early release. Now he just has to wait out a few more months and he'd be entirely free again.

"Oh." Erwin drew out slowly. His tone was understanding, but Levi could feel the mans gaze burning his skin. Levi rolled his eyes and stared back over to Erwin.

"Look, it's not like I killed someone. Some laws are just stupid, okay?" Levi tried to lighten the tone of the situation. He wasn't usually comfortable with telling people about it all, but he like Erwin and he didn't want the man to get the wrong idea. 

Erwin brought his hands up defensively. "You don't have to explain yourself to me, Levi." 

Levi gave a small snort; this only came up because Erwin was prying for a reason to begin with.

"But you're curious right?" He asked, giving a subtle smile. Erwin paused and gave a small nod.

"Maybe a bit, but you don't have to-" 

"Shut up, it's not that big of a deal. I was caught with 'illegal substance' a year or so back. I needed money so I sold shit like that." It was actually sort of a nice release when he told people on his own terms. He leaned against Erwin as he became aware of the silence looming in the air. "I was jobless and I lived in a shack, there weren't many options." 

He tried to make it sound as nonchalant as possible. Erwin _was_ a teacher, what if took more offense to it than Levi suspected? 

But no, Erwin was understanding. Of course he was, he was a great guy.

"That's in the past Levi, i'm not worried about it." Erwin slouched against the arm of the couch and his voice was neutrally curious. "You know, when I was a child, I stole a candy bar from a grocery. So I'm already a hardened criminal, anything you do will seem innocent in comparison."

Levi let out a light snort. "You dork."

Erwin chuckled, "How much longer do you have?" Levi layed his head on the mans chest, counting the months silently.

"Just four more months. It's not too long."

"That's not long at all." Erwin agreed, pulling his arm over Levi. They didn't usually touch like this, even though they'd been on quite a few sort-of-dates. Levi usually kept to himself, and Erwin didn't make many advances on his own. Levi shifted a bit to get comfortable and Erwin reclined back. It was nice, warm, and if felt natural. They fall asleep like that. 

\--

In the morning he wakes up to a few missed texts from Petra asking if he alright. As well as one from Hange asking 'did you die?'. He gives a light snort and tosses his phone to another cushion before returning his head to it's rightful place on top of Erwin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bad habit of never proofreading or editing. I sorry.


End file.
